The Board remands the claims for a higher rating in various service-connected conditions due to deficiencies in VA examinations and medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The RO did not obtain adequate VA examinations or medical opinions addressing additional functional impairment during flare-ups, as required by law.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis, left hip strain, right hip strain, left knee DJD (degenerative joint disease), right knee DJD
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 13, 2025
- Citation
- A25023258
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,164 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation A25023258.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions were granted effective from July 1, 2020.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for lumbosacral strain, bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, and left hip strain as secondary to lumbosacral strain have been granted. The claim for left hip strain is remanded due to insufficient evidence on whether it was caused or aggravated by the service-connected lumbosacral strain.
- Denied
The Board found the evidence persuasive against finding that the Veteran's lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis is proximately due to, the result of, or aggravated by his service-connected duodenal ulcer, pancreatitis, and cervical spondylosis with IVDS, degenerative disc disease, and stenosis. Therefore, the claim for service connection was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded several claims for further action, including effective date determinations and service connection determinations. The Veteran's service records from Portsmouth Naval Hospital are requested to be obtained.
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